Archinect - News

As the Eden Project turns 20, its creators take a look back

2021-03-16T13:51:00-04:00

Our original designs for the biomes – hundreds of hexagonal and pentagonal cells supported by geodesic tubular steel – looked more like Waterloo, but we used ETFE foil, or ethylene tetrafluoroethylene, which was more transparent than glass but extremely lightweight. It uses 1% of the energy and carbon of glass. The difficulty was creating biomes that would interlock across a constantly shifting landscape.

The Eden Project with its famed geodesic biomes opened twenty years ago on March 17th, 2001 in Cornwall, England.

Inside the tropical biome of the Eden Project. Photo: Hchc2009/Wikimedia Commons.

New Tintagel Castle Footbridge: high-tech construction at ancient King Arthur site

2019-06-19T16:00:00-04:00

A spectacular footbridge that will link the Cornish mainland with the island fortress of Tintagel is beginning to take shape thanks to technology usually employed for challenging construction projects in the Swiss Alps. [...] The 70-metre-long bridge is to comprise of two cantilevers, one reaching out from the mainland to the island where according to legend King Arthur was conceived.

Image: Ney & Partners, William Matthews Associates, Hayes Davidson, Emily Whitfield-Wicks

The new Tintagel footbridge at this historically significant site in Cornwall, England was envisioned by Belgian bridge designers Ney & Partners Civil Engineers in partnership with UK architecture firm William Matthews Associates and emerged as the winning proposal from the 2015 Tintagel Castle: Bridge Design Competition.

Image: Ney & Partners, William Matthews Associates, Hayes Davidson, Emily Whitfield-Wicks

"The aim was to find a bridge specifically tailored to Tintagel Castle, harmonising with the iconic coastal landscape," explains the project description on English Heritage's website. "The design sees two cantilevers reach out and meet, not quite touching, with a 40mm gap in the middle. The gap represents the transition from the mainland to the island, present to past."

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Tate St Ives named UK’s Museum of the Year 2018

2018-07-06T13:29:00-04:00

Tate St Ives has been announced as Art Fund Museum of the Year 2018, the largest and most prestigious museum prize in the world. Anne Barlow, director of Tate St Ives, was presented with the £100,000 prize by artist Isaac Julien and the ‘world’s best teacher’ Andria Zafirakou at an award ceremony at the V&A, London.

"Tate St Ives tells the story of the artists who have lived and worked in Cornwall in an international context," said Stephen Deuchar, chair of the judges. "The new extension to the gallery is deeply intelligent and breathtakingly beautiful, providing the perfect stage for a curatorial programme that is at once adventurous, inclusive and provocative. The judges admired an architect and gallery team who devoted some 12 years to this transformational change, consulting with the local community all the way."

The group of finalist museums also included Brooklands Museum (Weybridge), Ferens Art Gallery (Hull), Glasgow Women’s Library, and The Postal Museum (London).

Bridging the gap; Tintagel Castle design contest winning design revealed

2016-03-23T13:36:00-04:00

The daring concept proposes one cantilever on the Cornish mainland and another on the island fortress, where, legend has it, King Arthur was conceived. The two structures stretch out to each other across the void but do not quite meet.

The victorious design was conceived by the Belgian company Ney & Partners Civil Engineers in partnership with British architects William Matthews Associates.